Thermal spray processes have been widely used in industrial applications for the deposition of coatings, including aerospace, motor vehicles, petroleum and petrochemical, bio-medicine. Plasma spray coatings adhere to a substrate primarily by mechanical forces. The plasma spray coatings are sprayed onto the substrate through the use of an injector that heats the suspension to a predetermined temperature to ensure it adheres to a component.
After operating of the thermal sprayer for an extended period of time, the plasma spray coating can begin to accumulate and harden in the injector. The accumulation and hardening of the plasma spray coating will eventually clog the injector and require the thermal sprayer to be shut down in order to install a new injector. Therefore, there is a need for a thermal sprayer with an injector that extends the usable period of operation of the thermal sprayer without clogging or obstructing the injector.